Redcliffe Dolphins V Norths Devils game preview

The Dolphins will need to be at their best to beat reigning premiers Norths Devils and continue their march up the Hostplus Cup ladder, when they face-off at Moreton Daily Stadium on Saturday night.

The round 15 clash follows wins last weekend for both sides – the Dolphins beat Tweed Heads Seagulls 30-4 and Norths defeated Mackay Cutters 38-20.

Redcliffe Dolphins Head Coach Scott Murray says his side was good in defence and attack.

“The opposition, Tweed, are a pretty good team and they have been doing quite well. It was a pretty tough first half and we made too many errors. (We knew) If we could clean up some things like that with handling and have more energy to play the game, then away we’d go,” he says.

At half-time, the sides were deadlocked at 4-4 and Murray’s pleased his team was able to stop Tweed scoring any more points in a dominant second-half performance.

“We started to build some confidence. Some of the players coming into the side, like Asi and Katoa, once they found their feet and got some confidence with what they were doing with the ball, you could see they were really enjoying it,” he says.

|“It’s always the key to let them be themselves. In the second half, you could see they were really starting to find their feet.”|

Murray says he’s really happy with how winger Ed Kosi played.

“He’s been rewarded and is back in the NRL this week (for the Warriors),” he says.

Murray says Kosi came into the Dolphins side with a positive attitude after being dropped by the Warriors following their 60-point loss to Melbourne Storm on ANZAC Day and has “done really well for us”.

The Dolphins’ bench also had good impact against Tweed and Murray says he was pleased with Liam Hampson’s second game back after recovering from a hamstring injury.

Who’s playing this weekend

At this stage, Murray’s still not sure what his final team list will look like and is waiting to see who is available from the Warriors, who’ve had to make quite a few changes due to injury and COVID-19.

He says Dunamis Lui will be wearing a Dolphins jersey on Saturday, but Trai Fuller is out following a head-knock last weekend.

He predicts his side will be similar to the one that beat Tweed last weekend, and they will again need to focus on defence to keep an attacking Norths in check.

The last time the two teams met, in round two, the Dolphins clinched a 13-12 win.

|“They’ve been up and down (this season) but they would have been pretty pleased with their performance last week. They’re back into how they like to play,” he explains.|

He says the reigning premiers like to throw the ball around, so Redcliffe will need to be even better in defence than they were last week against Tweed.

“This has been the focus at training again this week,” Murray says.

“They will get a lot of offloads and take a lot of chances with the footy, so we have to be ready for it.”

Origin inspiration?

When asked if the team would take inspiration from the Maroons’ win in last night’s Origin decider, Murray, whose origins are south of the border, laughs.

“Not it you’re a Blues supporter,” he says.

“But what a game! It was just awesome to see these high-level players handle those high-pressure moments. Our players definitely get a kick out of it.”

He says they have been sledging him throughout the series and he expected more ahead of this weekend’s game.

GAME DETAILS

Redcliffe Dolphins V Norths Devils

Saturday, July 16 (6pm kick-off)

Moreton Daily Stadium, Redcliffe

To see the team lists, head to the QRL website